


Decisions

by Fabrisse



Series: Rebuilding the Table [5]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Breakfast Meetings, Gen, Kingsman Training, Observation of characters, Rendition scenario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 08:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6276184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A more in-depth take on the cohort which made Roxy into Lancelot.  Merlin's role as an observer and trainer is emphasized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decisions

Merlin left the observation chair and went to find tea. Training was one of the toughest parts of his job. Fortunately, it only occurred every few years; sadly, it always entailed the loss of a colleague and, this time, a friend. 

This group was already different from the others. On the morning after the flooded room, he'd had them run the obstacle course packless. Roxy and Eggsy worked together and had offered assistance to most of the others when needed, which was rudely refused by the unholy trio. But Eggsy had run the course differently from the others. He'd scrambled over and under in the usual way, but he vaulted low barriers, swung agilely over mud pits both with rigid poles and limp ropes, and generally moved like it was a dance performance. Eggsy was also the only one who'd completed the course with a wide grin.

They showered, had their measurements taken for their siren suits, and changed into fresh gym clothes for the first set of basic tests. Merlin did his best to tailor the training to take advantage of strengths and build up the areas of weakness. Anyone who made it to week eight would probably leave in the best physical and mental shape that person could attain.

After having seen them on the obstacle course and tested their endurance with a run, Merlin had asked a girl from logistics to show the candidates all of the places they would need to know during the first six weeks. These included the dining room, area for written tests, indoor firing ranges, with a note they would be shown the exterior areas the following day, both gyms (one had hand combat and free weights, the other had cardio options, an area for group classes, a full gymnastics setup, and an area with machines for physical therapy), the library, the games room, and the billiard room. Anything on the sublevels they could access at any time for practice as long as they didn't miss any of Merlin's surprise training exercises. The library could be used by the candidates from four to six p.m. every day with borrowing privileges of one book at a time. The other areas could only be used for scheduled training.

After an informal lunch in the mess hall with some of the other employees of Kingsman, they met Merlin in the gym set up for group work and completed a basic set of calisthenics before going to the free weight area and being taken through a simple regimen which allowed Merlin to gauge each person's current strength and to set a realistic goal for six weeks out.

They then went to the indoor shooting range where each candidate shot three different handguns, reloading each once, and grouping the shots. He asked them to aim for the center mass for the first set and the head for the second. Roxy went first and did beautifully. She missed her first headshot on the biggest gun, mostly due to being distracted by a comment from Digby, but the rest were perfect. Most of the others were slightly above average. Merlin expected they'd do better when they were tested with long guns at the outdoor range.

Eggsy went last and managed his reloads so fluidly and quickly that he shaved three seconds off the unofficial range record which Merlin himself had set, and beat Galahad by a full six seconds. The groupings were so perfect with the second gun, that Merlin asked him to redo it so he could be certain that the large holes were made by multiple bullets and the others weren't going so wide they didn't register at all. Merlin stood dead behind him, but Eggsy didn't betray any nerves and managed the feat a second time. Roxy's name was moved to second in the rankings for shooting.

The following day the recruits ran the obstacle course with a half pack and then asked to do basic vaults and tumbling before being given an hour to do any type of exercise they wanted to. On the first round of vaults, Eggsy kept it simple, but Merlin noted how high he arced and that he stuck the landing like a trained gymnast. Roxy showed off by throwing in a somersault and on the second round Eggsy did the same.

Once they were cut loose to work out on their own, Eggsy hit the big mat and did a series of tumbling runs. Charlie had gone to the rings and did a few relatively simple swings and holds. Merlin caught his eye and nodded. Several of the others followed him before scattering to work with other equipment. 

Charlie yelled, "Eggy, can you only do the girl's events?"

Eggsy shook his head and watched Roxy on her tumbling run. 

Digby said, "Well, how would he get up there? He's nearly as short as Roxy."

Rufus smirked, "Not exactly the most masculine man in the group, is he?"

Eggsy walked over to Roxy and suggested a way of transitioning more smoothly in one of her combinations. 

The three snobs, as Eggsy thought of them, continued to taunt him, and he continued to ignore them.

Finally, Merlin said, "I can't believe the level of ungentlemanly conduct I'm hearing. Perhaps your sponsors should be asked to select again?"

Charlie flushed red, and the three of them shut up. 

Eggsy gave Roxy a wink and went to get ring grips from the same area the others had. He pulled over the springboard from the vault and caught the rings. Like the others, he did basic swings and holds. Unlike the others, he interspersed strength elements including a plank. Finally, he lowered himself down from a handstand and went into a perfect iron cross holding it for a full five seconds before doing a basic dismount.

Charlie looked like he was about to have apoplexy. 

Merlin said, "Time's up. You have a free period before lunch. We'll be shooting outside today, both rifle and shotgun. Please be at your bunks by 1:30."

As Eggsy walked by him to hit the steamroom, Merlin said very quietly, "Excellent control. The iron cross, too."

Eggsy just smiled.

***  
By the time Harry got himself into a coma, Merlin had to admit to himself that he had favorites and they were Roxy and Eggsy. Both were focused; both were quick to laugh at themselves. They'd help anyone who asked and helped each other without needing to ask. Merlin couldn't remember seeing a such deep, genuine friendship between candidates in any previous cohort, although, James, Adrian, and Lee from the previous Lancelot cohort had come close.

Both of them could think around problems, too. He often had to break them up for partnered exercises because the two of them together would be too great an advantage. Merlin also noted the more extreme comments and pranks that Charlie and his coterie organized. They rarely did anything to touch Roxy, but Eggsy was being systematically targeted. Sadly, unless they actually raised a hand to Eggsy outside the hand-to-hand combat bouts, there was nothing Merlin could do about it. Arthur was right when he said that mental toughness was a hallmark of a good Kingsman agent. Eggsy's ability to take it without snapping (well, not to the point of physical violence) was counting heavily in his favor with the outside raters. 

He rubbed his eyes and reviewed the current statistics for the cohort. Roxy was highest all around with Charlie, Eggsy, and Digby all having high scores in individual areas and Eggsy and Charlie tying for second overall. Roxy, Eggsy, and Charlie seemed to jockey for their placements in the top slots on any given exercise, but those three were consistently in the top five and usually made it to the top three in different orders depending on the skills being tested.

***  
Since the ranks hadn’t thinned out much, Arthur asked Merlin to do the rendition exercise at an earlier point in the training. It was similar to the railway tracks test, which was one of the reasons the candidates were drugged to disorient them on that one. Over a fortnight, each of them would be taken away from the group by stealth and held for two days. They would be deprived of sleep, short on food and water, and beaten for information about their past lives. Merlin was purely an observer on it, and it disturbed him every time.

He took the internal shuttle to go see Arthur at the shop.

“Ah, Merlin, glad you could join me for breakfast.”

“Always a pleasure, sir.”

Arthur chuckled. “No need to lie. This is your least favorite test, and I’d worry about whether we had a good man as Merlin if it weren’t.”

Merlin sat down and began on his devilled kidneys and tea. “I understand it’s value, sir, but this does seem like too early a point in some ways.”

“In some ways?”

“They came in more physically fit than I think the Erec cohort managed by the final three. And they’re the smartest of the cohorts I’ve trained as well.”

“Yes, Erec was shocked that his candidate wasn’t at the top of the standings.”

Merlin responded to the implied question. “This round of tests was for IQ and aptitudes, not knowledge. I have no doubt Piers is better informed than most of the candidates -- Roxy might be able to do as well, not certain about the other varsity graduates -- and a top-notch analyst. That analysis is based on _his_ aptitude results, by the way.”

Arthur nodded. “And Charlie?”

“Is bright, but unfocused which hurt him on the straight intelligence portion of the tests. He’s already unlikely to fit Morgana’s needs. After the next round, I’ll know whether he might be a good fit for Vivienne or the Lady’s areas should he fail to make the minimums on any of the units.”

“Is that likely?”

“No, his standings are excellent.”

Arthur said, “And yet, this candidate of Galahad’s is ahead of him.”

“Yes, he is for three reasons.” Merlin waited for Arthur to signal that he was ready to hear them. “Reason 1 is simple. Eggsy wants out of his home situation, so he’ll put extra effort into every task. Even if he starts a unit toward the back of the pack, he’ll work to get to the top.”

“I see.”

Merlin said, “Reason 2 is that he really _is_ that smart. He’s beating me at chess. I can still win at Go or backgammon, mostly because I’ve been playing longer. Even his school reports and his eleven plus results put him into the top one percent for intelligence. I think he just didn’t see a way to use it to get himself out. Mind you, I don’t think most twelve year olds understand that there are scholarships and other ways out of difficult situations.”

Arthur looked thoughtful at that. “You may be right. Reason 3?”

“Eggsy doesn’t try to dominate. He’ll stand back and assess a situation rather than boast that he can do something. If he has a choice, he’ll always go in the middle of the pack rather than first. He’ll also flat out admit if he doesn’t know something. We don’t have a riding unit any more, but we always ask on the background whether they have experience riding. Roxy’s an excellent equestrienne as we know from running her background checks. I think you’ll agree with me that Charlie knows how to ride, but isn’t much beyond the basics. High intermediate at best, but from the footage I’ve seen, I’d put him low intermediate.”

“Yes. The family isn’t particularly horsey. Though his older brother rides with the Wilton Hunt.”

“On his form, Charlie evaluated himself as an ‘excellent’ rider in the advanced area. Most of the others -- again with the exceptions of Roxy and Eggsy -- put themselves honestly as either low or high intermediate riders, though their assessments of their abilities at that level might be slightly high, they weren’t…”

“Boasting. I’ll have a talk with the boy.”

Merlin nodded.

“So, the reason you’re here.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you hate this unit so much? It’s necessary.”

“Yes, sir, I know. ‘Limits must be tested.’ It’s not like they don’t figure it out by the second participant, but I think we can all agree that torture is demoralizing to both parties. And I worry about this group’s psychological health because we haven’t been able to weed them down as we usually do by this point.”

Arthur said, “Still, better than the issues with the Erec cohort.”

Merlin chuckled. “God spare me from another group like that.”

“Whom do you suggest go first?”

Merlin thought back. He’d been the first taken from his group. It was the hardest position to be in. After the first one was snatched and returned 48 hours later, everyone knew that it was a rendition test. But the first one taken went into the unknown. “Hugo,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because he’s the one I have the least of a handle on. He’s not outstanding at anything, but he’s never the worst at anything either. Even his university career doesn’t point to any deep interests. My other thought for first would be Roxy.”

“The girl?”

“Exactly. Two of the outside raters are women. They’ve questioned some of her ratings -- not because she isn’t good -- because those of us running the tasks may be subconsciously deferring to a lady. In other words, I’m suggesting her because my every instinct says to protect her.”

Arthur said, “That could be something useful to her in the field.”

“Yes, especially if we can figure out the right way for her to use it in other cultures. And I know some of it is her height and delicate build.”

“You sound sweet on her.”

Merlin chuckled. “Hardly my type, Arthur.”

Arthur smiled and said, “It’s hard to know. You’ve surprised me so often in the past.” He added, “Not the girl. I take your point, but knowing you as I do Merlin, you’re likely to come down harder because you’re wary of your own reaction. This is an overcorrection, I think.”

“Yes, sir. Hugo?”

Arthur examined some of the papers in front of him. “No, but for exactly the reason you wanted to take him. We don’t know enough about his reactions. We could permanently break him, purely through ignorance. It happened once, the Tristan cohort -- not yours, the previous Tristan’s -- one candidate is still in a sanitarium.”

“No pressure, then.”

“You’ll see how he reacts when the first candidate returns which will then let you take him with some more knowledge of his psychology.”

Merlin nodded. “Then Piers is out for a similar reason. I have a feeling we’ll be offering him an analyst’s position rather than see him in the final three. We don’t want a potentially broken analyst.”

“No, we don’t. That leaves four. Which one does your instinct say?”

“Charlie. He’s arrogant, and this could make him more cautious so that his arrogance doesn’t get him killed.”

Arthur said, “Well reasoned, but no.”

Merlin’s eyebrows went straight up.

“Not because he’s my candidate, well, not entirely, but his family are major contributors to our finances. They’ve had, what? Three agents at the table in the past eighty years?”

“Are you saying don’t wash him out if he fails at something?”

“Certainly not,” Arthur said. He was clearly affronted at the insinuation. “This exercise is highly subjective, and we all know that the first one taken has it hardest.”

“If his family know enough about the training, they’re more likely to question him failing the rendition exercise than something with objective or even strictly curved results. So diplomacy eliminates him. The other two in his coterie, as well?”

“No, they, Nathaniel, Piers, and Eggsy are all fair game. I’d like you to pull Eggsy first.”

“I remember your asking me to do the same with Lee. And I note that I was first on my rendition exercise.”

Arthur said, “So was I, Merlin.”

“Ah.”

“I admit, I’m slightly worried that you could be biased toward the one whose background is closest to yours. You recognized the bias with Roxy.”

“But you don’t think I recognize it with Eggsy?”

“I’ve been told by those who share your leanings that he’s very attractive.”

Merlin said, “He is. He’s also a candidate under my care. If you think…”

“No, Merlin, I don’t. You recognize your duty, and do your best to fulfill it with exactitude. You would never take advantage of a candidate. I am saying that it’s easy to lean toward the ones who are most like us without realizing it. And he’s objectively excellent, per not just your reports, but the other raters. I’ve apparently missed something by not watching footage of him on the racetrack.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he could get a Deux Chevaux to perform ballet.”

Arthur chuckled. “I’ll have to review some of the footage. Charlie can’t stand the boy, but even he waxed eloquent about Eggsy’s rally driving.”

Merlin hid his surprise at Arthur’s admission of the personality conflict between candidates. “Returning to the issue at hand, I take your point about unconscious bias. However, neither Rufus nor Digby goes first at anything. They either defer to Charlie, or, if they’re uncertain of their skills, hang back.”

“I take your point -- truly, I do -- but, Merlin, we can restructure some of the other tests so that they have to go first.”

“Well, then, Eggsy first.”

“Charlie, Hugo, Roxy, Nathaniel, Piers, Rufus, Digby -- The last five are a suggested order, but the first three aren’t. I think Eggsy, Charlie, and Hugo, in that order, need to be the first three for all the reasons you suggest.”

“Yes, sir,” Merlin said. “In that case, we should start on Monday.”

“Since we’re starting earlier, with more candidates, let’s keep it to thirty six hours rather than the usual forty-eight. It should let us get through all of them in just over a fortnight.”

Merlin nodded. “Usual restrictions?”

“No waterboarding, if feet are beaten it should be within the first three hours to allow maximum recovery time, and nothing which breaks the skin.”

“Very well, sir.”

Arthur stood and held out his hand. “You know, Merlin, you don’t have to wait on an invitation. You’re always welcome at breakfast.”

“Once training is over, I’ll bear that in mind, Arthur.”

***  
Merlin was very happy that he’d sent two extra people to snatch Eggsy. The lad had managed to take one out entirely, and they were lucky it was a broken leg and not a broken neck, and two others had dislocated shoulders from where he’d rested his full weight on them and used their arms to flip himself. With only four people, Eggsy might have gotten away clean.

The men had knocked him out, which meant they started the interrogation by splashing a bucket of water at him. He woke up thrashing in his bonds.

For the next several hours, Merlin watched as interrogators tried to get Eggsy to talk about Harry’s little display at the Black Prince, who his accomplices had been the night before that, and where Dean kept his drug stash. Eggsy was slapped in the face, put into sensory deprivation equipment, and forced into stress positions.

Approximately nineteen hours into his rendition, Eggsy’s captors jarred him awake with two slaps to the face.

Eggsy said, “Enough.”

“You’ll tell us what we want to know?”

“No, but since this is obviously an exercise rather than an actual torture scenario, you can stop.”

The men looked at each other.

“Oh, come on. I lived with Dean Baker. I took worse beatings than this once a week. Real torturers wouldn’t be so careful. And if you want to see how long I can go without sleep… my record is thirty two hours, but you should also know that I can sleep anywhere. Cryin’ baby, knife wieldin’ maniac for a stepfather, d’ya really think loud music an’ a few slaps’ll keep me from havin’ a bit of kip?”

Merlin walked into the room. “Technically, I’m supposed to keep you here for the full time, but I’ve already decided to end it. You may be taken again. It hasn’t happened before, but most first candidates haven’t figured out the exercise so quickly. And…” Merlin sighed.

Eggsy said, “You can’t really do any worse to me while we’re training. If I break my own leg on the obstacle course, you can tell me to go, but you can’t break me legs yourself.”

“Speaking of broken legs, one of my men is out for six weeks because of you.”

“Din’t know what was happenin’, did I? Learned a long time back to start fightin’ right away. People might decide I’m too much trouble an’ go after someone else.”

Merlin said, “Street smart, but not generally relevant in this profession. People nabbing you expect you to be fully prepared to fight.”

“C’n see that.”

“So what now?”

“Now I put you in a private room until the full 36 hours is up. I’ll bring you a book.”

“This exercise, you’re expected to see how long I can hold out, aren’t ya?”

Merlin just nodded. “And what your vulnerabilities are.”

Eggsy looked at the floor. “The people I love. Eyes or tongue cut out threats. Dismemberment.”

Merlin stopped to think how a man who’d never actually served would know that and motioned to his men to untie Eggsy. “We can’t use a threat we won’t follow through on. You may be immune to this exercise which would take you out of the standings. No rating at all.”

“Like Roxy with fencin’?”

“She’s expert enough that she might make the Olympic team. Including her in the rankings for fencing doesn’t make sense. In your case, though, it worries me.” He watched Eggsy flex his wrists and ankles and offered him a hand up. “Let’s get you to that room.”

They were quiet while Merlin escorted him through a part of the grounds he hadn’t seen before. The headed to the infirmary. 

“C’n I share a room wif Harry?”

“No. But if you go in and read to him for awhile after you’ve been examined and had some sleep, no one will mind.”

“Fair enough.”

Merlin waved away the medical team. “You can have him in twenty minutes. I’ll have him start sipping water.”

The doctor gave Eggsy a quick once over with her eyes and said, “Fine. Twenty minutes.”

When the door closed, Eggsy said, “You wanna share your worries?”

“I do.” Merlin took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Everyone breaks. The longer you take to break the better, but as an organization, it helps if we have some idea how long it’s likely to be.”

“C’n see that, an’ all.”

“You figured this out quickly, so you didn’t take the possibilities seriously. I can’t see a way to test you without making the possibilities real and serious.”

Eggsy nodded. “If I’m the last one standin’, couldn’t you run somethin’ on me after I’m an agent?”

“We do, but we usually base our resistance training on the information we got in this exercise.” Merlin patted his knee as he stood. “It’s my problem to worry about. Now, the standard warning: don’t tell the others anything about this. They’ll figure it out when you’re returned, especially since you have a bruised face. They don’t need to know methods or anything else about it.”

“Got it, Merlin.”

“Once the doctor’s done, get some sleep. What book?”

“Prolly can’t bring me the one by my bed ‘cause it’d tip the others off. How about _Moll Flanders_? Roxy thinks I’ll like it.”

“Within the hour,” Merlin said with a smile.

***  
Three weeks later, they’d all been through the exercise. After morning games, he called them together. 

“By five o’clock tomorrow, I want to have written reports from each of you on the rendition exercise. The three things you should cover are the effect it had on the group dynamics, your personal experience recalled in detail, and suggestions for improvement.”

Nathaniel said, “Why? You probably recorded them all.”

“We did. But being an agent isn’t just about knowing which wine goes best with Dover Sole and how to throw the fish knife through a plate glass window. Reports will be required, if only to justify your ammunition expenses.”

There were general murmurings of “yes, Merlin.”

***  
Merlin joined Arthur for breakfast.

“I hope you don’t mind that I took you up on your offer?”

Arthur shook his head. “Of course not, I didn’t even have to wait for training to be over. But I noticed you waited until the devilled kidneys came back in the rotation.”

“They don’t serve them at Headquarters, though they do an excellent finnan haddie.” Merlin buttered his toast. “I thought you might want to discuss the ratings.”

“Yes. I wish I could disagree with your decision to take Eggsy out of the standings, but you were right. He figured it out quickly, and, from his statement, might have figured it out long before he said anything.” Arthur sipped his tea and said, “The most surprising thing was the very beginning of the video where he consciously relaxed his body. We have experienced agents who’ve never learned to do that.”

Merlin nodded. “He’s still at the top. Charlie’s in second tied with Roxy.”

“I think we should drop Hugo based on my review both of the feeds and his written report.”

“I agree, sir. The only position we could offer him would be on the tailoring side, actually make him a buyer for shirtings.”

“Make the offer,” Arthur said. “They’re starting to work in the background departments next week, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Start Eggsy in Morgana’s area. Distribute the rest as you see fit.”

“May I ask why?”

Arthur’s face went blank. He pulled out a sheet of paper and said, “The questions for the current events exam.”

Merlin reviewed the seven questions and said, “Which one should we lose, sir? Even with a full day, it’s always been six questions.”

“Let them choose which six out of the seven. It will give you an in on their weak spots.”

“All right.” He opened the file he’d left on the table and said, “Here are the questions I had prepared.”

Arthur looked at them. “I like your wording better on the Commonwealth question.”

“Thank you, sir. I noticed that we overlapped on three other subject areas. We can decide which version of the question would be better or ask Morgana to draft them.”

“Morgana, I think.”

Merlin said, “I’m going to take out your questions two and four. Two isn’t different enough from five, if you look at them. And four? Immigration is too likely to devolve into polemic.”

“Which means we need two more from your subject sheet, I take it.”

“Yes, sir. My question four is on the Antarctic claims. It’s somewhat obscure, but I think it may prove to be a bigger issue in the near future.”

“I can see that.” Arthur waited.

“I want to use my second question, as well.”

Arthur reread it. “I would say that discussing class issues is just as likely to devolve into polemic as worldwide immigration policy is.”

“It’s worse than that, sir. I want to make that question required.”

Arthur said, “Let’s definitely require the Commonwealth question in whichever form Morgana has it. Make your case for yours.”

“Ywain and Erec are very emphatic about class.”

“I notice you didn’t include me in that.”

“It’s not just diplomacy, sir. While I agree that you’re…” he groped for a word.

“Hidebound?” Arthur suggested with some amusement.

“For lack of a better term, yes. You have always been good about listening to arguments and letting people who shine move up within Kingsman. Ever since we lost Tristan, when I first started here, you’ve allowed the people who were the best fit for a job to hold it, whatever their background.”

“That loss hit hard. I’d been Tristan, you know.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, I’ll take the compliment. I’ll also agree to your having the class question required, on one condition.”

“Sir?”

“Someone else grades that question first. I know you have at least three people read every paper, but I also know that you give the initial grade and that can have an impact on how the later raters evaluate the answers.”

“I’ll make myself the last pair of eyes on these exams rather than the first, then.”

“That’s acceptable.”

They finished their breakfast over more general talk about current missions and world events. 

As Merlin left, Arthur said, “I think Lee Unwin would have been a disaster as Lancelot. His son is even worse for both education and accent. I know you like him, but I think he’ll kick against the rules and break the table.”

“I doubt he could do that, sir. Kick, certainly, but the table’s held for nearly a century. I don’t think Eggsy could break it.”

Arthur said, “Let’s see how he does in the various departments. If he’s good in all three, maybe it’s time you trained your successor?”

Merlin said, “Do we have a 30 year maximum service requirement?”

“No, and I wouldn’t expect you to leave in the next decade, but wouldn’t it be better for the table to have someone ready when you do retire?”

“Let’s see how he does. Right now, if I’m hit by a bus, the Lady moves up to Merlin, but we’re all aware she’d be an interim. It’s a good thought, sir.”

“Thank you, Merlin.”

On the shuttle to headquarters, Merlin shook his head. He had no trouble with the idea of training a successor or even with the idea of Lee Unwin’s son potentially being that successor, but it was clear to him, if not to Arthur, that the suggestion was meant to keep the classes divided. Smart working class behind the scenes, and the gentry at the table.

Not for the first time, it seemed that Harry Hart was right. Once he was out of the coma and this cohort was complete, Merlin thought they might need to talk about how to bring the table into the modern age of diversity.


End file.
